Mossner, M. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2021

LiquidCNA: tracking subclonal evolution from longitudinal liquid biopsies using somatic copy number alterations

Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) measured via liquid biopsies provides a way for minimally-invasive monitoring of tumour evolutionary dynamics during therapy. Here we present liquidCNA, a method to track subclonal evolution from longitudinally collected cfDNA samples based on somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs). LiquidCNA utilises SCNA profiles derived through cost-effective low-pass whole genome sequencing to automatically and simultaneously genotype and quantify the size of the dominant subclone without requiring prior knowledge of the genetic identity of the emerging clone. We demonstrate the accuracy of liquidCNA in synthetically generated sample sets and in vitro and in silico mixtures of cancer cell lines. Application in vivo in patients with metastatic lung cancer reveals the progressive emergence of a novel tumour sub-population. LiquidCNA is straightforward to use, computationally inexpensive and enables continuous monitoring of subclonal evolution to understand and control therapy-induced resistance.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2020

Stabilising selection causes grossly altered but stable karyotypes in metastatic colorectal cancer

Aneuploidy, the loss and gain of whole and part chromosomes, is near-ubiquitous in cancer genomes and likely defines cancer cell biology. However, the temporal evolutionary dynamics that select for aneuploidy remain uncharacterised. Here we perform longitudinal genomic analysis of 755 samples from a total of 167 patients with colorectal-derived neoplastic lesions that represent distinct stages of tumour evolution through metastasis and treatment. Adenomas typically had few copy number alterations (CNAs) and most were subclonal, whereas cancers had many clonal CNAs, suggesting that progression goes through a CNA bottleneck. Individual CRC glands from the same tumour typically had very similar karyotypes, despite evidence of ongoing instability at the cell level in patient tumours, cell lines and organoids. CNAs in metastatic lesions sampled from liver and other organs, after chemotherapy or targeted therapies, and in late recurrences were typically similar to the primary tumour. Mathematical modelling and statistical inference indicated that these data are consistent with the action of negative selection on CNAs that traps cancer cell genomes on a fitness peak defined by the specific pattern of chromosomal aberrations. These data suggest that the initial progression of colorectal cancer requires the traversal of a rugged fitness landscape and subsequent CNA evolution, including metastatic dissemination and therapeutic resistance, is constrained by negative selection.

cancer biology↗